The Last Diary of Viral Voice (Thank You, Kossacks)

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Wednesday September 19, 2007 · 2:03 PM PDT

2007/09/19 · 14:03

This is not a GBCW diary: I’m very gratified to have been the DKos user by the name of viralvoice since mid-July, and I may come back again, but as my real self.

I’ve suddenly become more involved with this upcoming presidential campaign than I thought I would be, in ways that will preclude my continuing an anonymous diary here.

When this campaign began to attract my attention I took baby steps to inform myself better. And a return to DKos – where years ago I posted some “high impact” diaries under another name, was a part of that trek.

I lurked for a while. I wanted to resist the call of another political campaign. I’m one of those disillusioned Americans that doesn’t always pay attention or participate. There are millions like me yet we often think we’re alone.

It turns though that we’re not alone this time. Now I’m lacing up my cleats again (I’ve been called up from waivers) to go back out onto the field. So this is a thank you to everyone – pro and con – that helped me to test and sharpen the narrative that I’m now convinced can occur.

As a way of saying thanks…

viralvoice

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Friday September 14, 2007 · 6:23 PM PDT

2007/09/14 · 18:23

With every new YouTube video or press account of the big crowds that Barack Obama continues to draw across Iowa – a state that he’s visited 21 times already in this campaign – it’s clear that even after the novelty of the new face wears off, Iowans remain very, very interested – even “fired up, ready to go” for – Obama.

Obama draws them on his own: without dragging along a former US president or even Oprah Winfrey with him, he brings the people out. And he appears to be closing on the sale.

Keep in mind that in the 2004 Iowa Caucuses, only 124,000 voters turned out. If Obama can turn out 50,000 to the caucuses, he’ll win it outright. So when we see 300, or 400, or 500, or thousands of people come out to hear him in Iowa towns, the math is very encouraging for his chances of a January surprise.

With the annual Harkin Steak Fry coming up on Sunday (and the Cyclones-Hawkeyes showdown at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday), this is as good a time as any to take inventory on how the ground game is going in the bigger arena that is the entire state Democratic presidential contest.

Lots of links and videos at the jump…

viralvoice

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Wednesday September 12, 2007 · 11:22 PM PDT

2007/09/12 · 23:22

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice… But here’s the thing, young people: it doesn’t bend on its own.

“It bends because you put your hand on that arc and you bend it in the direction of justice…"

Rec, this up, if you're on the night shift, if you want our friends to awaken and see this video.

Give hope a chance.

Poll

33 votes Show Results

I want to be a part of this change

33 votes Vote Now!

I want to be a part of this change

Yes

23 votes

9 votes

Other

1 vote

The Anti-War Primary Now Has a Name: Obama

viralvoice

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Wednesday September 12, 2007 · 5:22 PM PDT

2007/09/12 · 17:22

"In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late.”

Martin Luther King

All presidential candidates either define themselves through big issues or become defined by them. With his speech today in Clinton, Iowa, and the artful step-by-step build-up to it, Obama has cemented his unique and deserved place in the 2008 presidential campaign: Barack Obama, the anti-war candidate.

Not everybody yet sees (or wants to see) it that way, but he's got it in his hands now. And nobody else is positioned to wrestle that mantle away.

By cementing his stature as the candidate that voters will think of when they increasingly dream of “turning the page” on the Iraq war and ending it, and by accomplishing that with sincerity, Obama is now positioned to embody the surprise narrative of the 2008 campaign: when a nation marches away from war.

More about today’s events, how they came to be, and the momentum coming out of them, plus a poll, at the jump…

Poll

157 votes Show Results

After Today's Anti-War Speech by Barack Obama, I am...

157 votes Vote Now!

After Today's Anti-War Speech by Barack Obama, I am...

More likely to support or already supporting Obama

116 votes

Less likely to support Obama

2 votes

Still with Edwards

18 votes

Still with Clinton

8 votes

Still with Kucinich

7 votes

Still with Richardson

0 votes

Still with Dodd

2 votes

Still with Biden

0 votes

Totally undecided

4 votes

Other

0 votes

A Q3 Scam: Clinton Return of Hsu Money

viralvoice

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Tuesday September 11, 2007 · 4:10 PM PDT

2007/09/11 · 16:10

Senator Clinton’s campaign spokesman announced last night that the massive amount of donations bundled by disgraced “Hillraiser” Norman Hsu would be returned to sender:

"An estimated 260 donors this week will receive refunds totaling approximately $850,000 from the campaign."

But wait. Read Wolfson's statement to AP about what happens after the money is "returned":

"We will accept their contributions and ask them to confirm for our records that they are from their own personal funds," he said in an e-mail.

This shell game will allow the Clinton campaign to report as much as $850,000 (mainly from maxed out donors) all over again for the third quarter (Q3) Federal Elections Commission (FEC) report that is due on October 15.

The goal: artificially inflating Clinton's take in the money contest by laundering money already given once to look like it will be raised anew in the third quarter.

That’s why, unlike with the $23,000 donated by Hsu himself, the Clinton campaign is not giving this $850,000 to charity.

It is the scam of the third quarter.

More details at the jump…

Poll

83 votes Show Results

Should the Clinton Campaign Disclose the Names of the Donors of $850,000 Bundled by Hsu?

83 votes Vote Now!

Should the Clinton Campaign Disclose the Names of the Donors of $850,000 Bundled by Hsu?

Yes

65 votes

16 votes

Other (I'll explain in the comments)

2 votes

Live: Univision Debate Translation Blogging

viralvoice

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Sunday September 09, 2007 · 3:40 PM PDT

2007/09/09 · 15:40

At 7 p.m. ET the first-ever Spanish language US presidential debate will take place on Univision (online at this link).

Univision will delay the broadcast in the Western United States to 7 p.m. in those respective time zones, but livebloggers there can watch it live via Internet.

The candidates will speak in English and be translated to Spanish in real time (translators’ voices will be speaking over the candidates’ own words, and at higher volume). Cable television viewers will be able to use “closed captioning” to read the debate in English, but that won’t be available online.

So I’ll be translating key passages back to English, and so will NC Dem Amy. Any other bilinguals out there? Feel free to pitch in.

I’ll add a debate preview after the jump, and as soon as the debate ends in 90 minutes I’ll add a poll…

Poll

135 votes Show Results

Which Candidate Won the Debate?

135 votes Vote Now!

Which Candidate Won the Debate?

Richardson

77 votes

Dodd

7 votes

Gravel

3 votes

Kucinich

15 votes

Edwards

5 votes

Obama

21 votes

Clinton

7 votes

Query: What Did the Clinton Presidency Accomplish?

viralvoice

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Thursday August 30, 2007 · 11:11 AM PDT

2007/08/30 · 11:11

Many of us have expressed the view that, unique among the Democratic presidential candidates, Senator Clinton, if the nominee, would provide the Republican nominee with the opportunity to run as the “change” candidate, effectively by running against the previous Clinton incumbency as a symbol of Washington insider-ism.

The GOP frontrunners, Giuliani and Romney, are from outside Washington and will run against it if given the chance. That’s less of a case for Thompson (who nonetheless is more associated with Hollywood than for his lackluster years on Capitol Hill). Although McCain is a US Senator he – like Edwards and Obama on the Democratic side – is enough of a maverick to be able to run as a “change” candidate. Gingrich, if given the chance, would also run as a “change” candidate.

It seems to many of us that only a Clinton nomination by the Democratic Party would cede to the Republicans that golden opportunity in a year when voters are very angry at Washington. Still, this diary doesn’t seek to insist on that point or debate it. People either "get it" or they don’t.

Rather, it is an invitation to Clinton supporters to make the case and explain what the Clinton administration did accomplish….

Poll

121 votes Show Results

Do the Democrats Need a "Change" Candidate in 2008?

121 votes Vote Now!

Do the Democrats Need a "Change" Candidate in 2008?

Yes

103 votes

13 votes

Other (I'll explain in the comments)

5 votes

Obama in Miami: "What Has God Wrought?"

viralvoice

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Sunday August 26, 2007 · 10:54 PM PDT

2007/08/26 · 22:54

In front of what the Miami Herald reported as “the largest South Florida crowd so far in the 2008 presidential race and one of the most diverse,” Senator Barack Obama reiterated his call to end the embargo on Cuban-Americans visiting or sending money to their relatives in Cuba.

Some rivals speculated that such candor reflected “inexperience” or would harm his campaign, particularly in South Florida.

But the grouposcule of 35 or 40 anti-Castro protesters that stood across the street (along with a smattering of Ron Paul-tards seeking to bathe their candidate in the bright lights upon Obama) were dwarfed by the 1,500 enthusiastic attendees that paid $30 apiece to attend Obama’s speech.

The quote of the day comes from US Rep. Carrie Meek (D-Florida), “the matriarch of Miami's black political establishment,” who sat in the front row.

''What has God wrought?" she said, "It's beyond my wildest dreams.''

Video, press reports, supporting editorials, and more at the jump…

Poll

93 votes Show Results

Is Community Organizing an Important Experience for a President to Have?

93 votes Vote Now!

Is Community Organizing an Important Experience for a President to Have?

Yes

84 votes

7 votes

Other (I'll Explain in the Comments)

2 votes

Clinton Responds: Keep Cuba Embargo As Is

viralvoice

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Wednesday August 22, 2007 · 4:48 PM PDT

2007/08/22 · 16:48

Today, the Miami Herald follows up on Senator Obama’s call to ease the Cuba embargo.

If anyone had hoped that Senator Clinton would use this opportunity created by Obama to break with her slavish devotion to pandering to a small group of former and wannabe oligarchs in South Florida and instead embrace a bold and positive new policy toward Cuba and all of Latin America, today is disappointment day. Again.

Although many comments by Clinton supporters yesterday expressed the view that Obama’s position was no different than that of all Democrats, Clinton in fact supports the status quo:

''She supports the embargo and our current policy toward Cuba, and until it is clear what type of political winds may come with a new government -- if there is a new government -- we cannot talk about changes to U.S. policy,'' Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee said.

Got that? “We cannot talk about changes.” Again, we must not even speak of it. And Clinton is in dubious company with that stance: The Bush Administration, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney line up with Clinton in calling for more of the same...

viralvoice

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Monday August 20, 2007 · 10:54 PM PDT

2007/08/20 · 22:54

In a column about to be published by the Miami Herald, US presidential candidate Barack Obama takes on the “conventional wisdom” once again.

And it's a big one.

AP reports:

Obama's campaign said Monday that, if elected, the Illinois senator would lift restrictions imposed by the Bush administration and allow Cuban-Americans to visit their relatives more frequently, as well as ease limits on the amount of money they can send to their families.

"His concern is that this has had a profoundly negative impact on the Cuban people, making them more dependent on the Castro regime, thus isolating them from the transformative message carried by Cuban-Americans.''

Obama explained his position in an op-ed piece Tuesday in The Miami Herald.

It wasn't an off-hand comment, or a debate response. Once again, he drives the issues in this campaign with care and aforethough.

UPDATED: Here is the column, now online.

This is truly historic. And long overdue. More after the jump…

Poll

2351 votes Show Results

Should the US ease its embargo of Cuba?

2351 votes Vote Now!

Should the US ease its embargo of Cuba?

Yes

2279 votes

54 votes

I'll explain in the comments

18 votes

Camp Obama & the '08 Ground War (w. Video)

viralvoice

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Monday August 20, 2007 · 8:11 AM PDT

2007/08/20 · 08:11

After putting more than 2,000 organizers through intense two-to-four-day training sessions in Chicago, Camp Obama expanded to four more regions in August.

Camp Obama is proof positive of Obama's truly being a "fifty state campaign" far beyond what any other Democrat can accomplish in 2008. It gives Obama the ability to turn those much-talked about 258,000 (and growing number of) small donors into an unprecedented field organization.

Camp Obama is, in the words of one its organizers, what makes the difference between Dean '04 and Obama '08. It is not the only difference: Senator Obama's realistic shot at racking up a super-majority among black voters, for example, beginning with early primary states like Michigan and South Carolina is not an advantage that Governor Dean ever enjoyed.

The political press corps and pundits tend to ignore field organization: they don't understand it and there has been so little of it in recent presidential cycles anyway. Camp Obama marks the return of the ground war to US presidential campaigns.

After the jump, videos, links galore, and background information about an innovation that will change the history of this campaign... and the country.

viralvoice

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Friday August 17, 2007 · 5:23 PM PDT

2007/08/17 · 17:23

For the sake of analysis, this diary will presume, based on today’s news report, that Michigan will vote on Tuesday, January 15 – one week after New Hampshire.

Regardless of where Iowa and Nevada shoehorn themselves into the process, this move would make Michigan more important than either.

The biggest consequence: the early primaries just became many times more expensive, to the tune of millions of dollars.

It also gives four important "wild card" groups of voters an early place in line:

Independent voters
Union members.
Black Americans
University students

Each of the leading Democratic candidates – Clinton, Obama and Edwards – have few unique advantages over each other in Michigan and each face many uncertainties.

A look at the voting history in Democratic presidential caucuses from 1984 to 2004 provides some clues as to what could happen, but keep in mind that this will be a primary, and that even Michigan political operatives will be on unfamiliar terrain because of it.

Still, Michigan may now determine how South Carolina, California and other big states go after it.

More at the jump…

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The Last Diary of Viral Voice (Thank You, Kossacks)

Steak Fry Preview: How’s Obama Doin’ in Iowa?

Why Now? Why Us? The Defining Campaign Ad of ‘08

The Anti-War Primary Now Has a Name: Obama

A Q3 Scam: Clinton Return of Hsu Money

Live: Univision Debate Translation Blogging

Query: What Did the Clinton Presidency Accomplish?

Obama in Miami: "What Has God Wrought?"

Clinton Responds: Keep Cuba Embargo As Is

Guts: Obama Calls for Easing Cuba Embargo (w. Poll) - UPDATED

Camp Obama & the '08 Ground War (w. Video)

Michigan Primary on MLK's Birthday: A Primer